Monday, January 9, 2012

Whatever - Target and little mailboxes

I haven't recorded any whatever posts in awhile, so here's one.

I went to Target today to buy some of their darling little $1 mailboxes for Valentine's Day at Master's Kids. I had been to a couple of Targets recently, scooping them up, trying to gather the remainder of the 64 that we need, and at each store I've only been able to score a dozen at the most. Well, today I hit the mother lode at a Target in Pasadena, where I came upon about 100 of the little gems. I made a quick decision to stock up for the next couple of years, grabbed around 75 of them and headed for the checkout. I knew that I looked totally ridiculous with a cartload of little pink, red and white mailboxes, but I didn't care. I knew someone would ask "What are you doing with those?" For a fleeting moment, I thought of telling a funny story, like I wanted to be a mail carrier but I got rejected by the USPS, so I was going to set up all the mailboxes in my living room and deliver pretend mail to them. Then I decided that might not be the best idea. So, when the lady behind me asked, I simply stated the truth, "They're for a preschool," to which she gushed "Oh, that is SOOOO cute!!" I then couldn't resist making it even more exciting for her, and answered back, "Yes, and we're EVEN going to put the kids' NAMES on them!!" She gushed again, and I'm pretty sure I made her day.

When it was my turn, I began methodically placing the mailboxes on the conveyer belt, in neat rows so I could use multiplication to count them, when the checker said, "how MANY of these do you have?" I answered that I wasn't exactly sure, but that I was counting them. He said that wouldn't be necessary because he had to ring them up ONE AT A TIME anyway (seriously?) and then proceeded to ask me if I left any back on the shelf. Pardon me? Not sure why he asked, nevertheless I answered that yes, indeed there were approximately 40-50 left. The next thing I hear is him calling on the intercom for a manager. What? Did I do something wrong? I didn't even tell my USPS story, but I still felt guilty.

The manager then appears, and asks me the same questions - how many did I have, how many were left on the shelf.... blah blah blah....then the checker and manager talked together for a moment in a hushed tone. Every so often they would glance over at me and I felt like a convict. The manager then said (rather reluctantly) "OK, she can buy them."

I was just stunned. I can BUY them? I thought I could buy ANYTHING in the store. I'm sorry, but isn't it ALL for sale? I wasn't aware there was a maximum amount of an item that you could buy. I don't know about you, but I've never brought 3 packages of toilet paper up to the checkout and been asked "How many more packages did you leave on the shelf? We here at Target want to make sure everyone has enough toilet paper." Or, "How many Burt's Bees lip balms are left? It's our deepest desire that everyone has soft lips and your purchase of sixteen tubes is sure a hindrance." (Yes, I am kind of addicted to the stuff, but that's besides the point.) To think, that after all these years as a shopper, I falsely assumed that retailers like Target wanted me to buy as many things as possible. But apparently I have come to realize that I don't quite understand their strategy after all.

So, anyways....after I was cleared (phew!) and the checker rang the mailboxes up one by one (and of course bagged them one by one) I made my way back to my car, completely baffled. I was happy that I had my 3 year supply of mailboxes, but I was left with only one response: whatever.

P.S. If you're thinking of scoring some of these mailboxes, you might want to try a Target other than Glendale, Burbank, and both of the Pasadena locations on Colorado Blvd. :-) Just a tip.

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About Me

I live in a rural pocket of Los Angeles and am a Christian, a wife, a mother, and a grammie. My family is my biggest joy. I simply love being a homemaker and sharing bits of our blessed ranch life here on my blog.
Why "e-wife"? My husband nicknamed me that because I buy anything I can online. So, contrary to popular belief, the "e" actually stands for "electronic" and not "excellent" - though I do strive to be an excellent wife! ~ Proverbs 31:10